Apple yesterday flipped the switch on “a new social network for music called Ping that Apple has integrated within iTunes 10 and which looks an awful lot like the experience you get on Facebook,” Kara Swisher reports for AllThingsD.
“Facebook has noodled for years about creating its own social music offering, including doing a partnership with Lala, which was bought by Apple last year and shuttered in June,” Swisher reports. “But its efforts have largely gone nowhere.”
Swisher reports, “And Facebook is nowhere on Ping, either. Currently, there is no linking, sharing or participation of any kind with Facebook–or Twitter or MySpace–on Ping, which will work only on the iTunes software on computers, iPhones and iPods. When I asked Jobs about that, he said Apple had indeed held talks with Facebook about a variety of unspecified partnerships related to Ping, but the discussions went nowhere. The reason, according to Jobs: Facebook wanted ‘onerous terms that we could not agree to.'”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Brawndo Drinker” for the heads up.]
Onerous terms = hordes of cash.
Ping. What an epic fail. I may not have the most modern tastes in music, but the fact it doesn’t even have David Bowie amongst its list of artists says it all. I guess it’s great if you’re into U2 and Lady GaGa and whatever other music Steve Jobs says you can like, but if your tastes differ slightly from his approved play list you may as well give up.
Facebook probably wanted those credit card numbers.
Integrate with Last.fm!!!!!
@Reality Czech
Does David Bowie even have Twitter? It may take some of the older artists a while to get on Ping. I could see a lot of young alternative bands (ones Jobs has never heard of) getting on right away but it will take time. It’s been out for a day.
@ reality czech
you’re right, itunes is not everything to everyone, if you still want to listen to phonograph records no digital music will be appealing, especially with the loss in audio detail that occurs through digital recording and then transmission which is usually lossy encodings, audiophiles are kind of left out of the new digital music age unless you like shiny sounding music, i love itunes for my headphones but as an audiophile with a big stereo, I do not like it
Some people proclaimed that the iPad was an epic failure, before it was on sale and before they used one. Why would it be any different for new networking software that a day old.
Reality Czech: wow what an uninformed comment from someone with cool music taste.
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No, there are not a lot of good/interesting artists for you to follow … YET. I don’t know about Bowie per se, but time will bring lots of worthwhile artists to Ping.
Bowie is well-represented if you’re a fan, however … you can manually choose one of his albums for your Top 10 spaces and connect with other users who list him as their favourites. Same was with virtually any other artist (Beatles notably excluded).
There’s not a lot to do there … YET. But that’s the key word.
Ping is also about liking and showing and sharing your music with others. I figure more artists will come on ping now it’s out.
I have little doubt that talks broke down with Facebook when the likely asked for access to tons of private information. Facebook in my opinion is evil. I spent a lot of time studying the legal EULA agreements with FAcebook, and carefully reviewed the methods used by their organization for users to attempt to manage their data. I have concluded that your privacy is of no concern to Mark Zuckerberg, and he has the sociopathic belief that he can help himself to any useful information about you for his benefit.
Apple might not be perfect, but I believe that the company does care about our privacy, and jealously guards it from abuse.
I hope the movie coming out about Facebook this year will lay bare how terrifying a person Mark Zuckerberg truly is, and peel away the Teflon coating that has protected him, along with fawning adoration by pundits and Wall $treet.
I no longer belong to Facebook, and despite its popularity, I urge you to quit it as well for your own good. Do not trust Mark Zuckerberg. He has proven time and time again that he has a cavalier attitude towards protecting and respecting your privacy.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
@Rabbit
Onerous terms = our personal info.
last i checked ping it didn’t have weezer. but ping just started and bands probably have to sign up for it
Facebook is a MESS!
It’s all about David Bowie, folks.
I have never had a Facebook account. Too old, too ugly, no friends, etc. etc. But each of my four daughters has used it. Even went through periods of apparently doing nothing else. Only one of them is still on there – and she is considering dropping it. Is this the trend? Get on, get obsessed, get abused, get off?
The reason, according to Jobs: Facebook wanted ‘onerous terms that we could not agree to.'”
They asked Steve to say “Please”
@ Reality Czech
No kidding… And what the hell is it with Lady Gaga and U2 anyway. They were high on my list of Ping recommendations to follow.
I have no idea how this list is established –
Lady Gaga – Though I enjoy her as a visual experience, I own none of her music and am of the opinion that it’s total crap.
U2 – Yes, I have the entire catalog up to Rattle and Hum, but I lost interest when Bono started wearing gold lamé.
Yo-Yo Ma – I own none of his music at all. I admire his talent but there is no indication in my collection that I’d be interested.
Katy Perry – Please see Lady Gaga.
Jack Johnson – He’s alright, but not really my thing.
Taylor Swift – I absolutely detest this woman. Her music is screamingly awful. Why in the world would Ping suggest I follow her?
Diddy – …is a talentless waste of digital bits.
Rick Rubin – Seriously?
Shakira – etc…
What a pile of fail. I would think they’d put their crazy-smart iTunes Genius algorithms to work to maybe create a list that would appeal to me. But it looks like I’m just getting the same sh|t everyone else is.
I expected more.
@rick
Weezer was there last night.
Oops, one more thing.
When you’re David Bowie, an album re-release looks Like This
@ChrissyOne
So, who do you listen to?
I remember Facebook integration in Ping last night and I linked it to my Facebook account through the “edit my profile page” on Ping. It prompted my for facebook app verification and I allowed the app. Did things fall through since last night?
What is really going on?
I thought the same thing, but then I realized that since there’s only about 20 or so artists to follow on Ping, they recommend them all to you.
“Epic Fail” after one freaking day?? GMAFB.
Pandora or Last.fm might be good partners, let’s hope Apple isn’t trying to be sociable by itself.
I agree with previous comments – there is no compelling reason to touch Facebook with a 10-foot pole. Zuck can go suck it.
@ The Mac That Roared
Right now I’m listening to Kyuss – ‘Un Sandpiper’. Sorry, no Lady Gaga on my playlist today.
@ChrissyOne
U2 released albums after Rattle and Hum? Oh dear…….
@ drackmere
I know… I tried to forget about that too. >.<
So, it took quite a few posts until ChrissyOne finally got it right: Ping is about 24 hours old, and they only have very few artists who have created profiles on it. Whoever rushed to download new iTunes and try Ping was likely greeted with most, if not all available artists on Ping.
If you give it a week, I’m sure hundreds of artists will be there, and the system will be able to make somewhat smarter recommendations. In a month, it will get much better.
More importantly, it requires actual users to use it in order to become useful and relevant. And I have no doubt, this will begin very, very quickly. All those teens and college students are coming back to their classrooms/dorms, and they will welcome this Ping thing with their open arms. Facebook may be it or not, but Ping will most certainly appeal to them because it works on the same principle as Facebook (social networking), but is much simpler, focused, intuitive and effective. People will share, discuss, discover and enjoy music much more effectively when they interact with each other.
Ping is going to be huge, and Facebook is unnecessary for this.
@ Predrag
Glad to see you’re sticking with me for the long haul. ;P
I guess my usual biting satire isn’t coming off quite right today. Forgive me, I have the flu and a real rotten attitude.
My point was that maybe rather than suggesting a bunch of totally inappropriate artists to early adopters, maybe Apple should have made it a little more clear that only 20 marginal artists were yet available on Ping. That’s the sort of thing that will make people with more obscure music tastes flee and never return.
And I disagree with you about Facebook. The ability to just post a status update with an artist or a new album would have been very powerful and a way to preach to someone who wasn’t already in the choir. I have a feeling we’ll see it before long.
Finding artists is easy!
Just Ping It!
Oh wait…, damn!
Ping and Decide.
Oh wait… >.<
@macnut222- you’re probably not too far off the mark with that credit card statement…
@C1- great taste in music! Nothing like beer and desert rock to relax after a long week…
Once Ping gets a few million followers and many, many bands to follow, Facebook will come back and ask Apple to let it link in. I agree with earlier comments that Facebook probably demanded access to personal, private info, and Apple said no.
I have a Facebook page, but I’m very careful about my privacy settings and about what I post or to whom I connect. I also remind my friends/family to be careful about what they post, such as pics of them drunk at some party or discussing such activities, because potential employers look at that.
It’s amazing what people will post thinking that no one will see it. Hey dumb a**, you just put that up on the internet and told all your friends about it, but you’re surprised the video clip of you drunk off your a** and bouncing head first off the diving board got forwarded to thousands of people? Duh!
@ChrissyOne
“Rick Rubin – Seriously?”
I know, right? It’s not like he’s really done anything in the music indus- oh wait…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Rubin_production_discography
Gee, I typed
% ping -c 10 -a Bowie
and got the answer
“100% dropped packets”
No wonder no one hee seems to like it.
facebook wanted more information on iTunes users , Apple is very private on its users and would not give out it’s information like facebook does.
@ I h8 Zuckenberg
True!
Only Apple can dictate “onerous terms.”
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I suppose that onerous terms are in the eye of the beholder…
@ Hunh?
lol… Yeah. I’m totally interested in everything he’s done. Come on… Sure, Mars Volta = Awesome. Weezer = Love ’em. He’s a totally legendary producer and all that… but for ever Weezer album he’s worked on there have been dozens of Poisons and Linkins and Shakiras and Bizkits and rap and Zzzzz….
(lighten up… I said I was kidding)
actually PING has FB connect
Actually, Apple is showing them how it’s done, most networks, Twitter, FB, MS, Youtube, don’t have credit card numbers – or many products to actually sell – strike 1,2,3, – while costing outrageous hosting fees. The whole social network paradigm was flawed from the start. Not the actual start though, because at least AOL had enough sense to get paid for doing it — and now Apple. The rest are nincompoops.
Facebook is the new AOL: a piece of total crap that has somehow convinced millions of clueless consumers that it is the second coming of Jesus.
Even though Facebook can suck, this really would’ve been a handy way to kick start Ping and get loads more people involved.
cnn comments on facebook
http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/ptech/09/05/facebook.spies/
youtube regarding facebook
’nuff said.
Do you guys not like ‘No line on the horizon’ by U2??? I agree they released a lot of crap after rattle and Hum and ecven on NLOTH, half of it I do not like…but the first 4 songs. Very nice.
This is very interesting. I can believe tdirect alks broke down, terms can be tricky. But, on the other hand, you can “integrate” with both Twitter and Facebook through their API’s without much discussion. I could integrate FB “like” on any webpage through their FB Connect feature. I’m sure you have to agree to some type of license agreement that most developers would skim through, but Apple lawyers may have puked on… but given how pervasic FB & Twitter are, it still seems like a weird thing to get caught on.
ploogman, you probably use ‘monster cables’ too.
Ploogman, “Phonograph records?” Ha! Your English is SO bad! I don’t even know what that means! Obviously, you MEANT to say “graphics of phone recordings.” I’m sure someone can recommend software for that.
A Really, Really Young Guy
(Whoops. Not even that young anymore…)
@alansky So true it’s scary!
I have to tell my friends to make sure they never mention me on Facebook. Even though you may choose to not go on there, lots of your friends will, then talk about you. Check through the network of friends and see what they’re saying about you or about your friend will be enough to get lots of valuable data about you even though you choose to refrain.
Just say no to Facebook, kids!
For a “classical” musician and composer like me, there is still very little to be found in iTunes. I blame the musicians for that – the really good ones are normally not very good at marketing, some don’t even have a label, and yes, they are not computer savvy at all. They have to use their time to practice and do research, compose. The likes of Yo-yo Ma… Well, in the professional scene nobody takes that kind of artist serious – cocacola-classics, good marketing, very good connections.